Artist: The Halo Effect
Title: Days Of The Lost
Genre: Melodic Death Metal
Release Date: 12th August 2022
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Album Review
Super bands are often a blessing or a curse, sometimes pure magic happens and sometimes the sum of the parts does not improve what the single individuals achieved musically which can come as bland and superficial. When these friends and ex members of DARK TRANQUILLITY and IN FLAMES came together in 2021 the scene had high hopes for what I am listening to right now. So, what does this sound like?
The influence and vibe that is very present here is pure 90s alternative meets Melodic Death Metal which has moments that sound like a “What if Nu Metal had any Balls?”. To be honest I am not a hundred percent on board with the melodic 90s vibe but the experimental “I don't give a fuck” attitude of these veterans is quite refreshing. Most of the vocals until track number five are fucking rough and pure death but ‘In Broken Trust’ is a wicked twist, the vocals are melodic as fuck and remind me of DEPECHE MODE’s Dave Gahan which is weird as fuck considering this is a Melodic Death band.
Normally I am OK with normal to heavy use of keyboards, here it is the only element I have to get used to. Just to be clear as to what I am saying: technically this is extremely good and it already starts to grow on me after a good 15 minutes, so yeah this will be on my album of the year list for sure.
The stars that shine most sound-wise are Englin’s and Strömblad’s riff attacks, the precise and very diverse drums by Daniel Svensson and the highly melodic and variable vocals of Michael Stanne. The breakout tracks of the first few spins are ‘In Broken Trust’ and ‘A Truth Worth Lying For’ as they are both catchy and melodic as fuck. I can clearly see that these guys will sell a truckload of their stuff this year as the scene seemed to hunger for true Gothenburg sound. Well, the hungry years seem to be over, all hail THE HALO EFFECT!
Tracklist
01. Shadowminds
02. Days Of The Lost
03. The Needless End
04. Conditional
05. In Broken Trust
06. Gateways
07. A Truth Worth Lying For
08. Feel What I Believe
09. Last Of Our Kind
10. The Most Alone
Line-up
Mikael Stanne – Vocals
Niclas Engelin – Guitar
Jesper Strömblad – Guitar
Peter Iwers – Bass
Daniel Svensson – Drums
Website
https://facebook.com/thehaloeffectse / https://thehaloeffectse.bandcamp.com/
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 9
Sound: 9
Total: 9 / 10
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